Headgear

US Lacrosse President and CEO Steve Stenersen today issued comments on proposed Maryland House of Delegates Bill 1123, which if passed by the Maryland General Assembly would legislate that girls lacrosse players in the state wear protective headgear as per specifications set forth by a state task force. The bill, which was introduced by Dels. Dana Stein and Jon Cardin on Feb. 8, would mandate protective headgear for girls lacrosse programs. Specifically, the bill would target programs organized for the recreational athletic competition or instruction of girls who are under age 19. A spokesperson for Cardin clarified, noting that this would apply to youth recreational programs and public schools, including high schools.

Maryland Del. Jon Cardin , who along with Del. Dana Stein introduced a bill Friday that would mandate protective headgear for girls youth lacrosse programs, said the purpose of the bill is to start a conversation about player safety in girls lacrosse. "The idea is to start a serious conversation about the safety and protection of student and youth athletes," Cardin said. "This will be high up on the agenda of discussion of how to make sure we're doing everything we can to keep student athletes safe.

US Lacrosse president and CEO Steve Stenersen confirmed Friday that Maryland Dels. Jon Cardin (D) and Dana Stein (D) have agreed to major modifications to House Bill 1123, which would have required girls players under age 19 to wear headgear. Stenersen noted that the delegates, who co-sponsored the bill, agreed to allow US Lacrosse to provide updated language for the bill that will drastically modify its original intent. Instead of mandating headgear use by youth and high school players , the focus of the bill will change to requiring mandatory sport-specific education, training and certification for youth and high school coaches that will be consistent with US Lacrosse education curricula.

US Lacrosse President and CEO Steve Stenersen today issued comments on proposed Maryland House of Delegates Bill 1123, which if passed by the Maryland General Assembly would legislate that girls lacrosse players in the state wear protective headgear as per specifications set forth by a state task force. The bill, which was introduced by Dels. Dana Stein and Jon Cardin on Feb. 8, would mandate protective headgear for girls lacrosse programs. Specifically, the bill would target programs organized for the recreational athletic competition or instruction of girls who are under age 19. A spokesperson for Cardin clarified, noting that this would apply to youth recreational programs and public schools, including high schools.

After the recent ring fatality of Jimmy Garcia of Colombia, heavyweight champion George Foreman proposed mandatory use of headgear in professional boxing.But there is no proof that using headgear, as required in amateur boxing, reduces the risk of brain damage. In fact, research has shown that in some cases, it might even increase the risk of injury.The late Voight Hodgson, who was a professor of neurosurgery and engineering for Wayne State University, performed extensive research on improving protective helmets for football, hockey, baseball and boxing the past two decades.

We have to take our hats off to the Preakness for being the single festive occasion in Maryland that brings out all the ladies in their wonderful hats. Why does it take a horse race? If they knew how terrific they looked, they never would pass up an opportunity to wear one.Yesterday's Preakness party crowd outdid itself. Under gray skies, women on promenade in the corporate party tents in the grassy infield turned the climate into a greenhouse.There was a garden variety of headgear. And it wasn't the price of the hat that made the look, it was the attitude underneath.

There is no greater challenge than to appropriately balance a sport's integrity with injury risk. And there is also no greater responsibility for a sport's national governing body. Since the formation of US Lacrosse in 1998, the investigation of injuries in men's and women's lacrosse has been a focus of the doctors and researchers who make up its Sports Science & Safety Committee. The prevention of injuries that involve the head, face and eyes has been an ongoing priority for US Lacrosse.

College track star Kevin Dare shook the track and field world four years ago when he attempted to pole vault 15 feet, 7 inches during a Big 10 track meet in Minnesota. The vault was no record attempt. It was not even Dare's personal best. The jump was sadly unforgettable because Dare missed and was killed when he landed head first in the steel takeoff box that vaulters use to catapult themselves into the air. After years of debate on ways to make the sport safer, a standards panel approved in May the first specifications for a pole vaulting helmet, spurring production of several models.

The chef's toque is one of the few remaining articles of clothing unique to a particular profession. In Western countries, cooks sometimes wear them even in quite humble eateries, and they're de rigueur in ambitious restaurant kitchens around the world. To explain its unique tall shape, it's said that the toque was inspired by the hats worn by the cooks at 6th-century Greek monasteries or perhaps by monks fleeing the Turkish conquest of Greece in the 15th century. This is highly unlikely, because the familiar shape really dates from the end of the 18th century.

Five bandannas, three soft welder's caps, a Santa stocking cap and a Harley baseball cap, all with chin straps, form some of the "protective headgear" favored by a St. Mary's County motorcyclist.What he puts on his head while motorcycling is a matter of constitutional import to William "Mike" Lewis, a crusader against helmet laws. As the state sees it, he is making a mockery of the law. As the Maryland Court of Appeals sees it, Lewis has raised a legal question.The state's highest court will hear arguments today.

It seems as if it would be a common-sense maxim for cyclists: Wear a helmet. Maryland law mandates the practice for children 16 and younger, similar to standards in nearly two dozen states. Under a Sykesville town ordinance, a person of any age can have their bike impounded for being caught without one three times. A bill in the General Assembly would make Maryland the first state in the country to extend helmet requirements to any person on any bike. More helmets, more safety?

There is no greater challenge than to appropriately balance a sport's integrity with injury risk. And there is also no greater responsibility for a sport's national governing body. Since the formation of US Lacrosse in 1998, the investigation of injuries in men's and women's lacrosse has been a focus of the doctors and researchers who make up its Sports Science & Safety Committee. The prevention of injuries that involve the head, face and eyes has been an ongoing priority for US Lacrosse.

College track star Kevin Dare shook the track and field world four years ago when he attempted to pole vault 15 feet, 7 inches during a Big 10 track meet in Minnesota. The vault was no record attempt. It was not even Dare's personal best. The jump was sadly unforgettable because Dare missed and was killed when he landed head first in the steel takeoff box that vaulters use to catapult themselves into the air. After years of debate on ways to make the sport safer, a standards panel approved in May the first specifications for a pole vaulting helmet, spurring production of several models.

DERBY, N.Y. -Why not the beret, the fedora or the Stetson? For that matter, why not straw boaters? In short, how on earth did the baseball cap become the world's hat, worn for work, play, fashion or just knocking around the global village? Baseball may not be an international pastime, but its main fashion accessory - the cap -is as much at home on the streets of Beijing as on the base paths of Chicago's U.S. Cellular Field, where the 70th All-Star Game is scheduled to be played Tuesday.

ASPEN, Colo. - As another ski season winds down, industry officials in Colorado are puzzling over why more people have died in skiing accidents this winter than ever before, a record that has brought new attention to the use of helmets for protection against serious head injuries. So far, the death toll in Colorado is 15 - 14 skiers and 1 snowboarder - surpassing the previous high of 12 set in the winter of 1998-99. In only one case this season was the victim wearing a helmet. The accidents fall into no discernible pattern.

The chef's toque is one of the few remaining articles of clothing unique to a particular profession. In Western countries, cooks sometimes wear them even in quite humble eateries, and they're de rigueur in ambitious restaurant kitchens around the world. To explain its unique tall shape, it's said that the toque was inspired by the hats worn by the cooks at 6th-century Greek monasteries or perhaps by monks fleeing the Turkish conquest of Greece in the 15th century. This is highly unlikely, because the familiar shape really dates from the end of the 18th century.

Enforcing a Columbia middle school's no-hats-allowed policy, Howard County school officials are refusing to let a 14-year-old return to classes wearing an African-style head-wrap, but will spend about $1,000 to send a teacher to the girl's home.Shermia Isaacs says the green and gold scarf that she wraps around her head is an expression of the Jamaican heritage of her great-grandfather.She says that keeping her out of Harper's Choice Middle School, even if a teacher comes to her home, is a violation of her constitutional rights to free expression.

The new state law requiring bicyclists under 16 to wear helmets hardly seems the most significant measure to pass the just-concluded General Assembly session. A violation of the law, which would take effect Oct. 1, amounts to only a civil offense. The "punishment"? Each youngster who gets caught bare-headed by the police would be given a warning and a pamphlet on proper helmet use. In fact, for every violator who is stopped, many others will merrily roll along; the police are busy enough chasing real criminals.

This week my new hat and I had a rough time getting used to each other. It is a Super Bowl Champions, As Seen On TV, Official Locker Room Cap. I got it Monday when, like a lot of folks around Baltimore, I was swept up in a fit of Super Bowl shopping frenzy. It is off-white, not garish, at least compared to some other Super Bowl apparel. It does not look totally ridiculous when worn with my standard-issue, old-guy, cream-colored raincoat. But since this baseball cap had set me back close to $25, I felt I had to take exceptional care of it. Tuesday as a hard rain fell on me and all the revelers who had crammed behind City Hall to celebrate the Ravens' pummeling of the New York Giants, I had a hat issue.